Control system for fluorescent light fixture
First Claim
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1. A control system comprising:
- a switch that switches power to a filament of a fluorescent light and that has first and second states, said second state associated with supplying power to said filament and said first state associated with removing power from said filament; and
a control module that communicates with said switch and that samples a filament resistance of said filament when said switch is in said first state and that selectively increases current supplied to the fluorescent light above a nominal current value when said switch transitions to said second state based on said filament resistance.
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Abstract
A control system comprises a switch and a control module that communicates with the switch and that samples a filament resistance of a fluorescent light when the switch is off and that selectively increases current supplied to the fluorescent light above a nominal current value during turn on based on the filament resistance.
35 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A control system comprising:
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a switch that switches power to a filament of a fluorescent light and that has first and second states, said second state associated with supplying power to said filament and said first state associated with removing power from said filament; and a control module that communicates with said switch and that samples a filament resistance of said filament when said switch is in said first state and that selectively increases current supplied to the fluorescent light above a nominal current value when said switch transitions to said second state based on said filament resistance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for operating a fluorescent light, comprising:
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selectively switching power to a filament of the fluorescent light between first and second states, said second state associated with supplying power to said filament and said first state associated with removing power from said filament; sampling a filament resistance of said filament when said fluorescent light is in said first state; and selectively increasing current supplied to the fluorescent light above a nominal current value when transitioning to said second state based on said filament resistance. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A control system comprising:
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lighting means having an ON state and an OFF state; and control means that communicates with said lighting means for sampling a filament resistance of said lighting means when said lighting means is in said OFF state and for selectively increasing current supplied to said lighting means above a nominal current value when said lighting means transitions to said ON state based on said filament resistance, wherein said control means determines a steady-state filament resistance value when said switch means is in said OFF state and monitors changes in said steady state filament resistance value. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A control system comprising:
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a switch that enables activation of a fluorescent light; a temperature sensor that generates a temperature signal; and a control module that samples a filament resistance of said fluorescent light when said switch is in a first state, that selectively increases current supplied to the fluorescent light above a nominal current value when said switch transitions to a second state, and that adjusts current supplied to said filament based on said filament resistance and said temperature signal.
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Specification